Why are switchblades illegal? Ridiculous??
- Thread starter dandyrandy
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Absalom
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
Yes and no. At different times HK has contracted with different knifemakers and licensed different designs for their HK branded knives.
For example, before Ernest Emerson went into mass production himself, he licensed Benchmade to produce his CQC-7 for a few years in the mid-1990s, which is when I bought mine pictured in post #26. At that time, Benchmade was producing that identical CQC-7 with the HK logo for them, for just a bit more than the one they sold themselves.
Later, HK contracted for several different models with Böker of Germany. I'm not up to date who all has supplied them since then.
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ContinentalOp
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Thanks for the info.
I looked at the H&K/Benchmade website. Mine is not in the current catalog, but it is several years old. Great information. Thanks, guys!
Ben_hutcherson
Member
I've always found the 3" blade restriction sort of interesting, and I'm not sure exactly where it came from.
I'm a bit of a traditionalist and primarily carry Case knives. I use my knife at least a half dozen times a day, but generally for mundane tasks like opening boxes.
In any case, I don't think there's any Kentucky law about the length/size of the blade or how it opens. I know I've seen plenty of switchblades sold openly, of course with the caveat being that it's not legal to carry them across state lines.
My employer allows the carry of an "ordinary pocket or hunting knife" although I've not been able to get a straight answer on what that means. Even some of the most anti-weapon people I know don't bat an eye when I pull out a medium stockman since any reasonable person considers that an "ordinary pocket knife." That's despite the fact that I don't carry a knife with a dull blade, and it can and will cut a good hunk of flesh off if you're stupid when handling it(I rarely let people borrow the knife I'm carrying for that reason). Similarly, my Trapper is what most people would consider an "ordinary pocket knife" despite the fact that the pen blade on it is about 3 1/2" long.
I've seen folks walk around campus with largish(8"+) fixed blades in a belt holster. The campus police sometimes give them a bit of grief, but ultimately I've never heard of anyone actually being told they can't carry one.
I'm a bit of a traditionalist and primarily carry Case knives. I use my knife at least a half dozen times a day, but generally for mundane tasks like opening boxes.
In any case, I don't think there's any Kentucky law about the length/size of the blade or how it opens. I know I've seen plenty of switchblades sold openly, of course with the caveat being that it's not legal to carry them across state lines.
My employer allows the carry of an "ordinary pocket or hunting knife" although I've not been able to get a straight answer on what that means. Even some of the most anti-weapon people I know don't bat an eye when I pull out a medium stockman since any reasonable person considers that an "ordinary pocket knife." That's despite the fact that I don't carry a knife with a dull blade, and it can and will cut a good hunk of flesh off if you're stupid when handling it(I rarely let people borrow the knife I'm carrying for that reason). Similarly, my Trapper is what most people would consider an "ordinary pocket knife" despite the fact that the pen blade on it is about 3 1/2" long.
I've seen folks walk around campus with largish(8"+) fixed blades in a belt holster. The campus police sometimes give them a bit of grief, but ultimately I've never heard of anyone actually being told they can't carry one.
Cal30m1
Member
As with so many other things, a movie did it called West Side Story! Pathetic!
Sorry if someone else already said this, I did not read all 66 replies...
Sorry if someone else already said this, I did not read all 66 replies...
cbore
Member
I think it is the term "switch blade" the stays in the Lawmakers' mind. It reminds them of the "gangsters era".
Ironic spring assist are legal most places. My state Mississippi still have some old restrictive law about possession that don't make since.
Guess they just want "Switch blades and brass knuckles" out of the hands of the "gangsters and hoodlums"
Ironic spring assist are legal most places. My state Mississippi still have some old restrictive law about possession that don't make since.
Guess they just want "Switch blades and brass knuckles" out of the hands of the "gangsters and hoodlums"
Everybody knows the real hoods carried Mercator Black Cats.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_K55K
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_K55K
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They are trying.
Here in AZ we can open or CC a firearm with almost no restrictions. However, Nunchucks are illegal. I'm not complaining about the gun rights, but Nunchucks? Really? They are however legal in many states that have very draconian gun laws. I don't get it either.
According to Knife Up dot com "It is illegal to own or carry a dagger, sword cane, any automatic knife, or any implement for the infliction of bodily injury, which serves no common lawful purpose. It is legal to open or conceal carry any other type of knife in Pennsylvania."
All well and good except every municipality in PA can write its own knife codes, and nobody knows what is and isn't considered a prohibited knife from one jurisdiction to the next.
Anything, and I mean anything with and edge is illegal in Philadelphia.
Assisted opening knives are legal for sale and easily available in just about any hardware store, gun shop or sporting goods store. State law does not call them automatic knives, therefore they are legal to sell, own and in most circumstances;to carry.
However, every individual LEO seems to have his/her own interpretation of what "assisted opening" means. Some think that means just a thumb stud, and anything else like spring assist is illegal and they confiscate it. I carry Kershaw Speed-Safe knives all the time, along with a Swiss type. I opened my Kershaw to use as steak knife at a festival when a local cop saw me and told me it was illegal to carry a 'switch blade'. After a brief conversation, he agreed it wasn't a true switchblade, but told me it still wasn't legal to carry.
Ballisong or "Butterfly" knives are often thought to be illegal, however they are not mentioned. As long as the blade is not a double edged blade, which in any form is a "dagger" in PA, they are legal. Just don't try and tell that to most LEO's if you dump one out of your pocket.
Blade length is an issue too. The "old wives tale" is PA allows any blade that isn't longer than the palm of your hand is wide or 4/4.5 inches is OK to conceal. In actuality, blade length is not specifically mentioned in the statutes. Once again, one local may consider your 6 inch long folder legal and the next town will confiscate it and possibly charge you. Ugh/
All well and good except every municipality in PA can write its own knife codes, and nobody knows what is and isn't considered a prohibited knife from one jurisdiction to the next.
Anything, and I mean anything with and edge is illegal in Philadelphia.
Assisted opening knives are legal for sale and easily available in just about any hardware store, gun shop or sporting goods store. State law does not call them automatic knives, therefore they are legal to sell, own and in most circumstances;to carry.
However, every individual LEO seems to have his/her own interpretation of what "assisted opening" means. Some think that means just a thumb stud, and anything else like spring assist is illegal and they confiscate it. I carry Kershaw Speed-Safe knives all the time, along with a Swiss type. I opened my Kershaw to use as steak knife at a festival when a local cop saw me and told me it was illegal to carry a 'switch blade'. After a brief conversation, he agreed it wasn't a true switchblade, but told me it still wasn't legal to carry.
Ballisong or "Butterfly" knives are often thought to be illegal, however they are not mentioned. As long as the blade is not a double edged blade, which in any form is a "dagger" in PA, they are legal. Just don't try and tell that to most LEO's if you dump one out of your pocket.
Blade length is an issue too. The "old wives tale" is PA allows any blade that isn't longer than the palm of your hand is wide or 4/4.5 inches is OK to conceal. In actuality, blade length is not specifically mentioned in the statutes. Once again, one local may consider your 6 inch long folder legal and the next town will confiscate it and possibly charge you. Ugh/
Speaking of the Emerson CQC-x knives... Kershaw makes a couple of Emerson knives for very little money.
They are decent knives and you can get them for around $45 shipped. Sure they are not a $200+ knife but they serve a purpose, I have the CQC-4kXL which has a nearly 4" blade and is very intimidating to look at, it would be a great defensive knife and is cheap enough to use for everyday tasks like working on the car and whatnot.
They are very easy to disassemble so you can "clean it up" meaning file off any burrs and generally slick it up, even though out of the box they are still nice and good to go.
I got one for my wife to carry when she walks the dogs. The quick opening "wave" technology is pretty cool. (Check the link below for a video on how the wave thing works)
Heck even my son, the knife snob who sneers at anything less than a $300 knife, had to admit for $45 the Kershaw Emerson was a pretty good deal, he said he wanted to get one so he could use it without fear of breaking or loosing it like one of his $300-$400 fancy knives.
This is the one I have:
http://http://www.bladehq.com/item--Kershaw-Emerson-CQC-4KXL-Knife--27387
This is the way I heard it, too.
Made things inconvenient for a lot of people who worked in the cotton mills (as my mother did, and she carried a switchblade). They would often hold a tangle of material with one hand and retrieve and open a knife to clear it with the other. Most didn't like to carry a belt (hunting) knife at work.
Still seems silly to ban a folding knife because you could open it with one hand, but you could still have a fixed blade one that's always "open".
-Mark
357-RevolverGuy
Member
Switchblades are probably illegal in some states because they are big, bad, and scary looking. The same people who made them illegal think the same thing about the AR-15. Honestly I prefer assisted opening/spring loaded knives over switchblades.
Speaking of the Emerson CQC-x knives... Kershaw makes a couple of Emerson knives for very little money.
They are decent knives and you can get them for around $45 shipped. Sure they are not a $200+ knife but they serve a purpose, I have the CQC-4kXL which has a nearly 4" blade and is very intimidating to look at, it would be a great defensive knife and is cheap enough to use for everyday tasks like working on the car and whatnot.
They are very easy to disassemble so you can "clean it up" meaning file off any burrs and generally slick it up, even though out of the box they are still nice and good to go.
I got one for my wife to carry when she walks the dogs. The quick opening "wave" technology is pretty cool. (Check the link below for a video on how the wave thing works)
Heck even my son, the knife snob who sneers at anything less than a $300 knife, had to admit for $45 the Kershaw Emerson was a pretty good deal, he said he wanted to get one so he could use it without fear of breaking or loosing it like one of his $300-$400 fancy knives.
This is the one I have:
http://http://www.bladehq.com/item--Kershaw-Emerson-CQC-4KXL-Knife--27387
I saw one of the Emerson Kershaws on Amazon for about $34 (I think it is a CQC-6), and told my son about it. Before I could stop him, he had ordered two and gave one to me.
It is quite cool, I agree. I carried it for a couple of weeks until the novelty wore off, but I do not really have much use for it.
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